There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern

"You see, there's nothing funny about being missing. I also quickly realized there's little difference between being missing and looking for the missing: every day I search. Same as I did when I was working. Only this time I search for a way back to be found.

I have learned one thing worth mentioning. There is one huge difference in my life from before, one vital piece of evidence. For once in my life I want to go home.

What bad timing to realize such a thing. The biggest irony of all."

from page six, There's No Place Like Here

Close your eyes and chant with me, dear readers: "There's no place like here... There's no place like here... There's no place like here... THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HERE!" And poof, magically we're transported here.

There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern is... there are so many words to describe this book. The story and characters are unique, creative, original and unusual. They are sometimes hilarious and, at other times, they are heartbreaking. Ahern is an Irish writer, who previously wrote the novel P.S. I Love You that inspired the Hilary Swank starring film of the same title. Both novels take place in Ireland.

There's No Place Like Here tells the story of Sandy Shortt, who is neither sandy haired nor short in stature, but those are not the only ironies in her life. Sandy runs a missing persons agency. She is often the last hope for people searching for loved ones who have gone missing. Sandy has agreed to take the case of Donal, whose brother, Jack, has been obsessively searching for him ever since Donal went missing almost a year ago--the police have run down every lead and their investigation has gone cold. Sandy is Jack's last hope of finding Donal. One day as she's jogging, Sandy runs down an unfamiliar path and ends up in a place called Here. Here is a strange, mysterious, and magical place where all the missing people and things go when they disappear. You know how you swear you put two socks in that washing machine and only one comes out again? That other sock is in the place called Here. Once people or things find their way to Here, that is where they stay. People often don't know how or why they end up Here, and there is no way back to the world from which they disappeared.

There are two mysteries intertwined in this novel. The first is the mystery of Jack's brother's fate and whether or not Jack and his family will find closure regarding this tragedy. The second mystery concerns the nature of Here and whether or not Sandy will find her way back to her family and friends. Ultimately, whether or not Sandy finds a way to return to her family, she is changed forever by her experience Here.

This book is available upon request from Lebanon Community Library, Annville Free Library and Myerstown Community Library. I highly recommend you check this book out because you will not regret it.

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

Sunshine

The movie stars Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans and Rose Byrne and five other actors, but those were the ones that I recognized in previews before viewing the film. I also happen to be a Chris Evans fan, and, admittedly, he was the main reason for checking out the movie. This movie has a very small cast... There are only eight characters in most of the film, and it takes place on board one space ship. These two factors make for a pretty contained film and contribute to a slightly claustrophobic feeling throughout the film. I mean, would you want to be confined with the same eight people for about four or five years on one ship travelling to the sun and, hopefully, back to earth again? I don't think I would. Okay, maybe if the fate of the earth and all mankind depended upon it, then maybe I would. But I would have to think long and hard about this.

The sun is dying and once our closest star dies, so will we, mankind, and all life on earth. In a risky move, the earth (I'm assuming that this is an international effort here, though this is never really discussed in the film) sends a crew of eight in a self-sustaining space ship strapped to the back of a huge bomb on a mission to use this bomb to re-ignite the sun and save mankind. Seven years previously a similar mission was sent to the star and was never heard from again. The fate of this preceding mission, its crew and its ship is a source of anxiety throughout the film because no one knows why they failed and therefore, they cannot take precautions to correct whatever errors did or didn't lead to that failure. Unexpected circumstances precipitate a change in course and a series of cascading incidents results that endangers the success of the mission. I really hope these people succeed because, dude, if that star dies so do we, and I'm not ready to die yet!

Ultimately this movie is intense right up through the ending climax of the film. This is where it gets confusing when the jumpy camera work makes it hard to follow exactly what's happening where on the ship. By the every end of the film you know enough to get what happens. Do these astronauts succeed in re-igniting the sun and saving mankind? You'll have to watch the movie to see, but we're still here. So far.

This movie is available upon request from Annville Free Library. I recommend you check it out, especially if you are a hardcore sci-fi fan.

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie

The Invasion

The Invasion stars Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, and Jeffrey Wright.

A space shuttle crash brings to earth an insidious alien infection that turns its victims into emotionless shells of the human beings they once were. Once a human is infected, the virus lies dormant until its victim falls asleep. When they wake up, they are not themselves any longer. Kidman plays Carol, a psychiatrist, who struggles to avoid infection, reunite with her son, solve the mystery of the infection and find a cure/antidote. She has her work cut out for her. Will she survive? Will she find a cure?

This movie is scary, creepy, twisty, heart pounding, and suspenseful; you'll keep guessing about the fates of Carol, her son and the world almost up to the very end of the film. Be forewarned: there is a gross factor to this movie. The aliens infect their human hosts by spewing snot and mucus into their faces and mouths or spitting it into the coffee they then serve their unwitting guests. Ew!

This movie is available upon request from Lebanon Community Library. If you enjoy science fiction, you will probably want to check it out!

--Reviewed by Ms. Angie